Ugandans
can be
classified
into several
broad linguistic
groups:
the Bantu-speaking
majority,
who live
in the
central,
southern
and western
parts of
the country;
and non-Bantu
speakers
who occupy
the eastern,
northern
and northwestern
portions
of the
country
(who may
in turn
be sub-divided
into Nilotic
and Central
Sudanic
peoples).
The first
category
includes
the large
and historically
highly
centralized
kingdom
of Buganda,
the smaller
western
Ugandan
kingdoms
of Bunyoro,
Nkore and
Toro, and
the Busoga
states
to the
east of
Buganda.
The peoples
in the
second
category
include
the Iteso,
Langi,
Acholi,
Alur, Karamojong,
Jie, Madi,
and Lugbara
in the
north and
a number
of other
smaller
societies
in the
eastern
part of
the country.[1]

Bantu-speakers
entered
southern
Uganda
probably
by the
end of
the first
millennium
A.D.
and developed
centralized
kingdoms
by the
fifteenth
or the
sixteenth
century.
At independence,
Bantu-language
speakers
made
up approximately
two thirds
of the
population.
Their
languages
are classified
as Eastern
Lacustrine
and Western
Lacustrine
Bantu
in reference
to the
populous
region
surrounding
East
Africa's
Great
Lakes
(Victoria,
Kyoga,
Edward,
and Albert
in Uganda;
Kivu
and Tanganyika
to the
south).
Eastern
Lacustrine
peoples
include
the Baganda
(whose
language
is Luganda),
the Basoga,
the Bagisu,
and many
smaller
societies
in Uganda,
Tanzania,
and Kenya.

The
Buganda
make
up the
largest
ethnic
group
in Uganda,
though
they
represent
only
16.7%
of the
population.
(The
name
Uganda,
the Swahili
term
for Buganda,
was adopted
by British
officials
in 1884
when
they
established
the Uganda
Protectorate,
centered
in Buganda).
Buganda's
boundaries
are marked
by Lake
Victoria
on the
south,
the Victoria
Nile
River
on the
east,
and Lake
Kyoga
on the
north.
This
region
was never
conquered
in the
colonial
era;
rather,
the powerful
king
(or kabaka),
Mutesa,
agreed
to a
British
policy
of giving
Buganda
protectorate
status.

The
Basoga
make
up about
8% of
the population.
Before
the arrival
of the
Europeans,
they
were
subsistence
farmers
who also
kept
cattle,
sheep,
and goats.
They
commonly
maintained
gardens
for domestic
use close
to the
homestead.
The Bagisu
constitute
5% of
the population.
They
occupy
the well-watered
western
slopes
of Mount
Elgon,
where
they
grow
millet,
bananas,
and corn
for subsistence,
and coffee
and cotton
as cash
crops.
This
area
has the
highest
population
density
in the
nation,
as dense
as 250
per sq
km. As
a result,
nearly
all land
is cultivated
and land
pressure
has led
to population
migration
and social
conflicts.

The
Western
Lacustrine
Bantu
includes
the Bunyoro,
Batoro,
and Banyankole
of western
Uganda.
Their
complex
kingdoms
are believed
to be
the product
of acculturation
between
two different
ethnic
groups,
the Hima
and the
Iru.
In each
of these
three
societies,
two distinct
are identified,
the Hima
and the
Iru.
The Hima
are said
to be
the descendants
of pastoralists
who migrated
into
the region
from
the northeast.
The Iru
are are
said
to be
descendants
of agricultural
populations
that
preceded
the Hima
as cultivators
in the
region.
Bunyoro
lies
in the
plateau
of western
Uganda,
constituting
about
3% of
the population.
The Batoro
evolved
out of
a breakaway
segment
of Bunyoro
that
split
off at
an unspecified
time
before
the nineteenth
century.
The Batoro
and Bunyoro
speak
closely
related
languages,
Lutoro
and Lunyoro,
and share
many
other
cultural
traits.
The Batoro
live
on Uganda's
western
border,
south
of Lake
Albert
and constitute
about
3.2%
of the
population.
In pre-colonial
times,
they
lived
in a
highly
centralized
kingdom
like
Buganda,
which
was stratified
like
the society
of Bunyoro.

Nilotic-language
speakers
entered
the area
from
the north
probably
beginning
about
A.D.
100.
They
were
the first
cattle-herding
people
in the
area,
but they
relied
on crop
cultivation
to supplement
livestock
herding
for subsistence.
The largest
Nilotic
populations
in present-day
Uganda
are the
Iteso
and Karamojong
cluster
of ethnic
groups,
speaking
Eastern
Nilotic
languages,
and the
Acholi,
Langi,
and Alur,
speaking
Western
Nilotic
languages.
Descendants
of Eastern
Nilotic
peoples
also
live
in Kenya,
Sudan,
and Uganda,
where
the largest
groups
are the
Karamojong.
These
include
the Karamojong
proper,
as well
as the
Jie,
Dodoth,
and several
small
related
groups,
constituting
about
12% of
the population.
The Iteso
people
are an
acculturated
branch
of the
Eastern
Nilotic
peoples.
Constituting
about
8.1%
of population
of Uganda,
they
are the
nation's
second
largest
ethnic
group.
The Teso
territory
stretches
south
from
Karamoja
into
the well-watered
region
of Lake
Kyoga.
Their
traditional
economy
emphasizes
crop
growing.
Many
Iteso
joined
the cash
economy
when
coffee
and cotton
were
introduced
in 1912,
and the
region
has prospered
through
agriculture
and commerce.
The Kakwa
occupy
a region
of extreme
northwestern
Uganda
that
borders
southern
Sudan
and northeastern
Zaire.
Those
who live
in Uganda
constitute
less
than
1% of
the population.
Western
Nilotic
language
groups
include
the Acholi,
Langi,
Alur,
and several
smaller
ethnic
groups.
Together
they
comprise
about
15% of
the population.
Most
of western
Nilotic
languages
in Uganda
are classified
as Low
Nilotic,
and are
closely
related
to the
language
of the
Luo in
Kenya.
The two
largest
ethnic
groups,
the Acholi
and Langi,
speak
almost
identical
languages.
The Alur,
who live
west
of the
Acholi
and Langi,
are culturally
similar
to neighboring
societies
of the
West
Nile
region,
where
most
people
speak
Central
Sudanic
languages.

Central
Sudanic
languages,
whose
speakers
also
arrived
in Uganda
from
the north
over
a period
of centuries,
are spoken
by the
Lugbara,
Madi,
and a
few small
groups
in the
northwestern
corner
of the
country.
Central
Sudanic
languages
are spoken
by about
6% of
Ugandans,
most
of whom
live
in the
northwest.
The Lugbara
live
in the
highlands
on an
almost
treeless
plateau
that
forms
the watershed
between
the Congo
River
and the
Nile.
The Madi
live
in the
lowlands
to the
east.
The two
groups
both
speak
nearly
identical
languages
and have
strong
cultural
similarities.
Both
groups
raise
millet,
cassava,
sorghum,
legumes,
and a
variety
of root
crops.
Chicken,
goats,
and,
at higher
elevations,
cattle
are also
important.
Corn
is grown
for brewing
beer,
and tobacco
is an
important
cash
crop.

Roughly
10,000
Ugandans
of Sudanese
descent
are classified
as Nubians
in reference
to their
origin
near
the Nuba
Mountains
in Sudan.
They
are descendants
of Sudanese
military
recruits
who entered
Uganda
in the
late
nineteenth
century
as part
of the
colonial
army
employed
to quell
popular
revolts.
Their
ethnic
identities
are various,
but many
spoke
Western
Nilotic
languages
similar
to that
spoken
by the
Acholi
people,
their
closest
relatives
in Uganda.
Many
Nubians
also
speak
a variant
of Arabic,
and are
Muslims.
The 1969
census
numbered
the Asian
population
in Uganda
at about
70,000.
Asians
were
officially
considered
foreigners
despite
the fact
that
more
than
50% of
them
had been
born
in Uganda.
By the
1970s
South
Asians
had gained
control
of the
retail
and wholesale
trade,
cotton
ginning,
coffee
and sugar
processing,
and other
segments
of commerce.
President
Amin
deported
about
70,000
Asians
in 1972,
and only
a few
returned
to Uganda
in the
1980s
to claim
compensation
for their
expropriated
land,
buildings,
factories,
and estates.
In 1989
the Asian
population
in Uganda
was estimated
at only
about
10,000.